US, Mexico, Guatemala bar migrant caravans, citing Covid

The United States, Mexico and Guatemala agreed Friday to bar migrant caravans from passing through their territories due to the Covid pandemic, days after one from Honduras was violently broken up in Guatemala. US Ambassador to Guatemala William Popp stressed that any migrants who cross the US border in an irregular manner will be returned home immediately, citing national health security. His comments came after a meeting with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo and Mexican Ambassador to Guatemala Romeo Ruiz. The deal came after Guatemalan authorities on Monday broke up the latest caravan of Honduran migrants, who set out hoping for a more welcoming US policy on immigration following President Joe Biden's arrival in office. More than a dozen caravans, some with thousands of migrants, have set off from Honduras since October 2018, aiming to walk to a better life in the United States.